Month: June 2020

Ohio Department of Agriculture to Provide Online Pesticide Re-certification Opportunities

REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio (June 29, 2020) – During the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA), is partnering with the Ohio State University Extension Pesticide Safety Education Program (PSEP) to temporarily provide online recertification for pesticide applicators and fertilizer certificate holders whose licenses expired in spring of 2020. The online recertification will be available Monday, July 6. For commercial applicators, it will be available August 10. For more information or to register for the online recertification, visit pested.osu.edu/onlinerecert.

The online option allows private applicators and fertilizer certificate holders due for training by March 31, 2020 and commercial applicators due for training by September 30, 2020 to meet their continuing education requirements. The cost for online training is $35 for private applicators and $10 for fertilizer certification. The price per credit hour for commercial applicators is $15. If you don’t know your license number, please call ODA at 614-728-6987, choose option 1. Continue reading Ohio Department of Agriculture to Provide Online Pesticide Re-certification Opportunities →

Application of Manure to Double Crop Soybeans

By Glen Arnold OSU Extension

Wheat fields will be harvested in Ohio soon and some farmers will plant double-crop soybeans. In recent years there has been more interest from livestock producers in applying manure to newly planted soybeans to provide moisture to help get the crop to emerge.

Both swine and dairy manure can be used to add moisture to newly planted soybeans. It’s important that the soybeans were properly covered with soil when planted to keep a barrier between the salt and nitrogen in the manure and the germinating soybean seed. It’s also important that livestock producers know their soil phosphorus levels, and the phosphorus in the manure being applied, so soil phosphorus levels are kept an acceptable range. Continue reading Application of Manure to Double Crop Soybeans →

Ohio Pork Producers and Soil or Manure Samples

From the Ohio Pork Council

The Ohio Pork Council is pleased to announce its partnership with Brookside Laboratories to provide discounted soil and manure samples for all Ohio pig farmers. In an effort to help your operation, Brookside Laboratories has generously offered to provide soil samples for $3/sample and manure samples for $20/sample for all Ohio pig farmers.

After completing a required survey, you will be provided an email with further instructions, a unique identifying code and an order form to be submitted with your soil and manure samples. Special soil sample bags and manure containers will be provided though select integrators and county extension offices.
Continue reading Ohio Pork Producers and Soil or Manure Samples →

Tax Value of Farmland Expected to Drop

There’s a bit of good news for Ohio farmers to counter the bad news caused by COVID-19, as well as by last year’s historic rain. In counties scheduled for property value updates in 2020—about half of Ohio’s 88 counties—the average value of farmland enrolled in the Current Agricultural Use Value (CAUV) program should be about 40% lower than 2017–2019, or about $665 per acre.

That’s according to projections by researchers at The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES).

The same projections say that in counties due for property value updates in 2021—another quarter of Ohio’s counties—average CAUV values should be about 25% less than 2018–2020, or about $760 per acre.

The declines should mean lower property taxes, on average, for most of the farmers in those counties.

The projections were published in a May report by postdoctoral researcher Robert Dinterman and Ani Katchova, associate professor and farm income enhancement chair, both of CFAES’ Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics.

“Less money paid in property tax will help reduce farmers’ costs and allow them to keep a greater share of the revenues they bring in,” Dinterman said. Continue reading Tax Value of Farmland Expected to Drop →

Oats as a late summer forage crop

By Jason Hartschuh and Al Gahler OSU Extension

Fungicide application significantly reduced the presence of rust.

Oats is traditionally planted as the first crop in early April as a grain crop or an early season forage. One of the beauties of oats is its versatility in planting date. Oats can also be planted in the summer as an early fall forage for harvest or grazing.

Summer oats has a wide planting window but performs much better with an application of nitrogen and may benefit from a fungicide application to improve quality. During the summer of 2019 we conducted a study to examine the planting of oats from July 15th through early September to examine tonnage and forage quality. Through this trial we examined planting date, yield, forage quality and an application of foliar fungicide to control oats crown rust. Continue reading Oats as a late summer forage crop →

Scout Alfalfa NOW For Potato Leafhopper

By Christian Krupke and John Obermeyer Purdue University

Potato leafhopper populations were noticeably higher after last week’s tropical storm remnants blew through, and now the warmer temperature will drive further increases. Potato leafhoppers won’t mind this heat, and alfalfa pest managers should begin sampling their alfalfa shortly after cutting.

Potato leafhoppers are small, wedge-shaped, yellowish-green insects that remove plant sap with their piercing-sucking mouthparts. Leafhopper feeding will often cause the characteristic wedge-shaped yellow area at the leaf tip, which is referred to as “hopper burn.” Widespread feeding damage can cause a field to appear yellow throughout. Leafhopper damage reduces yield and forage quality due to a loss of protein. If left uncontrolled for several cuttings, potato leafhoppers can also significantly reduce stands.

Management of potato leafhopper was needed weeks before this hopper burn.

Continue reading Scout Alfalfa NOW For Potato Leafhopper →

Distribution of Waterhemp and Palmer Amaranth in Ohio

By: Mark Loux and Bruce Ackley, OSU Extension

The maps that accompany this article show our current knowledge of waterhemp and Palmer amaranth distribution in Ohio.  These are based on information from a survey of OSU Extension County Educators, along with information we had from samples submitted, direct contacts, etc. We still consider any new introductions of Palmer amaranth to be from an external source (brought in from outside Ohio) – hay or feed, infested equipment, CRP/cover/wildlife seedings.  Palmer is not really spreading around the state, and as the map shows, we have had a number of introductions that were immediately remediated.  The number of counties where an infestation(s) is being managed is still low, and within those counties, the outbreak occurs in only a few fields still.  Waterhemp is much more widespread in Ohio and is spreading rapidly within the state from existing infestations to new areas via equipment, water, animals, etc.  We do not have Ag Educators in all counties, and even where we do, infestations can occur without us knowing about them.  Feel free to contact us with new information to update the maps. Continue reading Distribution of Waterhemp and Palmer Amaranth in Ohio →

Wheat Harvest Preparation: Grain Bin Edition

By Clint Schroeder OSU Extension

The 2020 Ohio wheat harvest is rapidly approaching. Now is the time to prepare for a successful harvest. Before the combine goes to the field, a key component will be to have grain handling and storage facilities adequately sanitized. Taking the proper steps now should help eliminate insect infestations that can significantly reduce grain quality or salability.

The majority of insect infestations that occur in stored grains are a result of migration into the bin. These insect populations will be present in piles of spilled grain from the previous year, livestock feed in the area, litter, and weed growth. Newly harvested wheat can also be contaminated when it comes in contact with infested grain that was not cleaned from the combine, trucks, wagons, augers, dump pits, or grain leg buckets. Another source of contamination can be carryover grain in a bin that was not correctly emptied. Continue reading Wheat Harvest Preparation: Grain Bin Edition →

Bagworm Season Begins

By Joe Boggs OSU Extension
Overwintered common bagworm (Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis) eggs are hatching in southwest Ohio.  Look closely when inspecting plants.  The 1st instar caterpillars are very small with their bags measuring around 1/8″ in length.
Bagworm
The tiny 1st instar bags are constructed with pieces of tan to reddish-brown sawdust-like frass (excrement) stuck to the outside of silk and look like “dunce caps.”  As the caterpillars mature, they begin weaving host plant debris into the silk which provides structural stability and helps to camouflage the caterpillar bag-abodes.

Continue reading Bagworm Season Begins →

Fertilizing Hay Fields

By Stan Smith, OSU Extension

As first cutting hay harvest rapidly progresses and even winds down in parts of the State, perhaps it’s a good time to consider replacing the soil nutrients that are removed with harvest. Recognizing that fertilizer is a significant investment in hay production, it’s also important to note that since we agree you can’t starve a profit into a cow, likewise, you can’t starve production or profit into a forage field either.

Each ton of hay that’s harvested and removed from a field in the harvest process takes with it 13 pounds of P2O5 (phosphorus) and 50 pounds of K2O (potash) regardless the calendar date or quality of the material that’s harvested. To maintain productivity and plant health, fertility that’s removed needs to be replaced. Since nearly all the phosphorus sources we presently have available include some nitrogen, those replacing fertility immediately after the first cutting will enjoy some benefit for grass based hay fields from the nitrogen that comes along with the P. Continue reading Fertilizing Hay Fields →